SPITSBERGEN GLACIAL BAYS MACROBENTHOS - A COMPARATIVE-STUDY

Macrobenthos was studied in seven glacial bays situated along the Spit sbergen coast between 77 and 79 degrees N. The fauna was dominated by deposit-feeding or carnivorous polychaetes and bivalves. Only 4 of 118 species identified in the collected material occurred in all the west Spitsbergen localities examined (the polychaetes Chaetozone/Tharyx sp ., Cossura longocirrata, Lumbrinereis fragilis s.l. (sensu lato), and the bivalve Thyasira flexuosa). Clustering of samples showed a differe nce between the faunas of east and west Spitsbergen; the latter formed two subgroups, localities open to Atlantic waters and those from inne r fjord basins. The fauna in open basins was dominated by cosmopolitan species, whereas arctic elements shares were higher in inner basins a nd predominated in the fauna in Bettybukta (east Spitsbergen). This in dicates arctic, relict character of the inner fjords sites. The biomas s ranged from 6 to 310 g/m(2) and Shannon diversities from 0.49 to 2.5 4.